Editing Val Marie (section)

== Geography ==

=== Grasslands National Park ===
The West Block of [[Grasslands National Park]] lies 10&nbsp;km east of Val Marie. The park is the only place in Canada where [[black-tailed prairie dog]] colonies are found. In 2006, [[plains bison]] were re-introduced into the park. Hiking in the [[badlands]] and viewing wildlife in the park are primary visiting activities. The park is divided into two blocks. The West Block is closest to Val Marie and the East Block is near Killdeer, SK. There are no plans to connect the two blocks. The West Block near Val Marie will be about 450 square kilometres when complete. It protects the Frenchman River Valley and is home to many unique species in Canada such as Plains Bison, Prairie Rattlesnake, Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Burrowing Owls, Swift Fox, and many more. An official Parks Canada information centre is located in the town of Val Marie.

The park is home to over 12,000 teepee rings, indicating that the land was heavily used by indigenous people before it was used by cattle ranchers and homesteading. Primarily the Plains Cree and the Assiniboine used the land to hunt bison. The large 76 Ranch once had an office and many sections of land in the Val Marie area.

=== Climate ===
Located within [[Palliser's Triangle]], Val Marie has a [[semi-arid climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''[[Semi-arid climate#Cold semi-arid climates|BSk]]''). Val Marie has a weather station with daily records since 1937.<ref>{{cite web|title=Val Marie weather|url=http://www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/sk-28_metric_e.html|access-date=2010-12-21|publisher=[[Environment Canada]]}}</ref> It can be a harsh climate, cold and windswept in the winter and often very dry for prolonged periods, broken sometimes by extremely intense rainfalls during the summer. Val Marie is sometimes the national hotspot in Canada on a given summer day. Val Marie gets more days of sunlight per year than anywhere else in Canada. On average, Val Marie receives {{Convert|352.5|mm|abbr=on}} of precipitation per year and about two thirds of that is snow.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Val Marie is {{convert|−49.4|C}} on January 20, 1954.  The hottest is {{convert|41.1|C}} on July 4, 1937, which came close to being broken on July 23, 2007, when the temperature rose to {{convert|40.6|C}}, and again on August 11, 2018, when the temperature rose to {{convert|40.9|C}}. The preceding day, August 10, saw a maximum of {{convert|40.0|C}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Daily Data Report for August 2018|url=http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?StationID=10821&Month=8&Day=1&Year=2018&timeframe=2&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2018|access-date=August 27, 2018|website=Environment Canada}}</ref>

The record one-day rainfall is {{convert|86.4|mm|abbr=on}} on July 3, 2000. The record one-day snowfall is {{convert|45.7|cm|abbr=on}} April 2, 1940.

{{Weather box
| location = Val-Marie (1981–2010)
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| Jan record high C = 13.0
| Feb record high C = 19.0
| Mar record high C = 23.0
| Apr record high C = 31.7
| May record high C = 36.0
| Jun record high C = 38.5
| Jul record high C = 41.1
| Aug record high C = 40.9
| Sep record high C = 38.9
| Oct record high C = 30.6
| Nov record high C = 24.0
| Dec record high C = 17.8
| year record high C = 41.1
| Jan high C = -4.3
| Feb high C = -1.7
| Mar high C = 3.6
| Apr high C = 12.3
| May high C = 18.1
| Jun high C = 22.8
| Jul high C = 26.7
| Aug high C = 26.5
| Sep high C = 20.0
| Oct high C = 12.6
| Nov high C = 3.7
| Dec high C = -3.3
| year high C = 11.4
| Jan mean C = -10.8
| Feb mean C = -8.3
| Mar mean C = -2.8
| Apr mean C = 4.7
| May mean C = 10.7
| Jun mean C = 15.6
| Jul mean C = 18.5
| Aug mean C = 17.9
| Sep mean C = 11.5
| Oct mean C = 4.7
| Nov mean C = -3.1
| Dec mean C = -9.8
| year mean C = 4.1
| Jan low C = -17.1
| Feb low C = -14.9
| Mar low C = -9.1
| Apr low C = -2.9
| May low C = 3.2
| Jun low C = 8.3
| Jul low C = 10.3
| Aug low C = 9.2
| Sep low C = 3.0
| Oct low C = -3.3
| Nov low C = -10.0
| Dec low C = -16.2
| year low C = -3.3
| Jan record low C = -49.4
| Feb record low C = -47.8
| Mar record low C = -40.6
| Apr record low C = -28.3
| May record low C = -14.4
| Jun record low C = -6.7
| Jul record low C = -0.6
| Aug record low C = -3.9
| Sep record low C = -13.9
| Oct record low C = -30.0
| Nov record low C = -36.7
| Dec record low C = -46.7
| year record low C = -49.4
| Jan precipitation mm = 14.8
| Feb precipitation mm = 9.1
| Mar precipitation mm = 17.5
| Apr precipitation mm = 19.3
| May precipitation mm = 52.5
| Jun precipitation mm = 74.1
| Jul precipitation mm = 56.5
| Aug precipitation mm = 33.5
| Sep precipitation mm = 30.7
| Oct precipitation mm = 17.7
| Nov precipitation mm = 14.6
| Dec precipitation mm = 12.2
| year precipitation mm = 352.5
| precipitation colour =
| Jan rain mm = 0.2
| Feb rain mm = 0.3
| Mar rain mm = 3.4
| Apr rain mm = 13.5
| May rain mm = 48.0
| Jun rain mm = 74.1
| Jul rain mm = 56.5
| Aug rain mm = 33.5
| Sep rain mm = 30.0
| Oct rain mm = 12.2
| Nov rain mm = 3.0
| Dec rain mm = 1.0
| year rain mm = 262

| Jan snow cm = 14.6
| Feb snow cm = 8.8
| Mar snow cm = 14.1
| Apr snow cm = 5.8
| May snow cm = 4.8
| Jun snow cm = 0.0
| Jul snow cm = 0.0
| Aug snow cm = 0.0
| Sep snow cm = 0.7
| Oct snow cm = 5.5
| Nov snow cm = 11.8
| Dec snow cm = 11.3
| year snow cm = 77.3
| source 1 = Environment Canada<ref name="climate">{{cite web
|url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=val&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=3196&dispBack=0
|title = Canadian Climate Normals 1981-2010
|publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
|access-date = 2017-11-23}}</ref><ref name="Daily Data Report for September 2022">{{cite web
| url = https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?timeframe=2&Year=2022&Month=9&Day=1&hlyRange=1994-02-01%7C2022-09-07&dlyRange=1992-12-01%7C2022-09-07&mlyRange=1996-01-01%7C2007-11-01&StationID=10821&Prov=SK&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2022&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=val+marie
| title = Daily Data Report for September 2022
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| publisher = Environment and Climate Change Canada
| access-date = September 7, 2022}}</ref>}}